Posted by zefdie on June 16, 2006, at 9:35:37
In reply to Re: nootropics as antidepressants: does research e, posted by Declan on June 16, 2006, at 3:01:00
> Hydergine had a good effect on my mood and I took it for a couple of years, sometimes in doses of 13.5mg/d sublingual. It also aggravated my insomnia. Deprenyl had a good effect too, and aggravated insomnia. Rhodiola ditto.
> Piracetam and its cousins helped with mental clarity, but I didn't like them much.
> (Centrophenoxine seemed even worse.)
> Ashwaganda/withania suits me.
> Declan
>Thanks for the response! I've been delving (in my fairly scientifically illiterate way) into research of piracetam and am finding everything to be very indefinite, particularly in its actions on glutamate receptors -- some sources claim piracetam is a positive modifier, some say it has no action. Same with neurotransmitters.
My concern with that is how it would work with Lamictal, which inhibits glutamate activity and sodium ion channels (if I didn't phrase that right, it's because I've had no sleep whatsoever. Lamictal-induced insomnia). It seems as though piracetam in many ways has opposite effects of Lamictal, yet some studies say it "regulates" glutamate and "regulates" various transmitters depending on whether there is depletion of hyperactivity. According to these studies, piracetam at the right doses evens out glutamate, which would be a great thing for bipolar II. I've checked out about 7,000 abstracts since I posted those cursory, straw-grasping few up there, and can post some of my findings if anyone is interested. Anyone meaning "helpful, patient professors."
Another interesting thing I found is that piracetam is used as an anticonvusant adjunct and has proven to be nicely synergistic with Lamictal/lamotrigine.
I've spent less time on hydergine, primarily because it doesn't seem to have as many as these mystifying, unknown actions and intersections with the med I'm already on. I would definitely like to give hydergine a try. It would be quite a feat if it made my insomnia worse, though. Yikes.
Hydergine has MAO-A and -B effects I wanted to look at in depth. Deprenyl intrigues me quite a bit. Rhodiola I recall having estrogen-like effects or something like that, something not entirely safe for women.
I keep coming across ashwaganda but have yet to go check out what it is.
Forgive the long posts -- I hope they're coherent! I'm just trying to figure out some ideas after suggesting some of this to my pdoc the other day.
Thanks!
poster:zefdie
thread:657158
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20060601/msgs/657553.html